Peter Illman, Sustainable Agriculture Manager at Tesco, is supportive of agri-tech innovation. He is responsible for the flagship Tesco Agri T-Jam pitch event, which announced this year’s winner NatureMetrics on 15th September, and he has led the UK’s largest-ever commercial rollout of low-carbon fertiliser, which has won high praise from the industry.
Tesco part of Supply Chain panel at REAP 2023
Peter will be joining Andy Griffiths, Head of Sustainable Procurement at Diageo, and Naomi Pendleton, Group Sustainability Director at AM Fresh, for the Supply Chain Panel at Agri-TechE’s REAP conference. He will discuss the approaches that the retailer is adopting to improving resilience across the industry.
Sustainable supply chains
Tesco has made a commitment to halve the environmental impact of the average shopping basket by 2030.
Peter comments: “Part of our responsibility to consumers is that by adapting, learning and investing; we aim to guarantee both a secure supply of affordable, fresh food, and a healthy, thriving food system.
“We have seen many exciting, innovative companies coming through the Tesco Agri T-Jam, but they need practical support in order to scale; co-development with early adopters is an important element of this.”
Peter takes responsibility for delivery of the sustainable agriculture strategy within fresh produce, working with key stakeholders to deliver net zero, manage pesticides across its global supply base and deliver Tesco’s commitment to LEAF and nature.
Low carbon fertiliser trial with farmers
To support this the company has recently announced that it will extend its trial of eight market-ready low-carbon fertilisers manufactured from food waste, chicken litter and algae.
The aim was to determine the most eco-friendly and cost-effective alternatives to conventional fertiliser.
During the first year of the trial, five suppliers cultivated 1,300 hectares of land using different fertilisers. Producing 70,000 tonnes of fresh produce – including lettuces, carrots, and potatoes.
Initial results found the alternatives were just as effective as conventional fertilisers while slashing emissions by up to 50%, with no extra cost to farmers.
Peter is keen to gain the input from farmers, researchers and technologists at REAP.
NatureMetrics winner of 2023 Tesco Agri T-Jam
This year’s Tesco Agri T-Jam pitch event was dominated by innovations which can contribute to Tesco’s aim of building more sustainable supply chains.
NatureMetrics has won the 2023 Tesco Agri T-Jam Competition, securing fast-track introductions to the Tesco supplier network, a trial with one of the retailer’s supply chain partners and membership of Agri-TechE.
NatureMetrics won the competition for its innovative solution which measures biodiversity using eDNA analysis of soil, water, and insects. The innovation converts this complex data into simple metrics which can be viewed through its Nature Intelligence Platform, allowing users to comprehensively report on biodiversity improvement in their supply chain.
Companies from the Agri-TechE ecosystem that have previously featured in the T-Jam include:
2023 Tesco Agri T-Jam finalists were:
NatureMetrics (Tom Ludwig) [Winner] measures biodiversity using eDNA analysis of soil, water and insects. This data is converted to simple metrics via the Nature Intelligence platform to allow users to comprehensively report on biodiversity improvements in their supply chain.
Viridian (Angus Middleton) plans the sustainable use of land, using high-tech data modelling to calculate how landscapes are functioning, and then designing ways to manage the whole landscape system to solve local problems.
Flexifarm (from Diometer) (Kevin Gooding) is a cloud-based data integration SaaS platform for farms integrating with 3rd party hardware, software and data with advanced features and analytics. It aims to increase farm productivity, health and safety, and remote systems management.
Map of Ag (Joe Towers) created the “What If” Tool to optimise dairy farming operations and lower emissions by analysing factors like feed types and manure management. The tool offers farmers a customised analysis platform where they can use sliding scales to see their impact.
Bloomfield (Mark DeSantis) provides plant digitisation, providing automated, direct line-of-site pixel-level insection of harvests. Using imaging and AI, the technology allows growers to assess the health and performance of each and every plant, regardless of plant type, location or number.
Laguzze (Laurent Vigouelle) is a fertiliser made from seawater that provides more than 60 trace elements. The fertiliser acts as a natural repellent against all types of insects and pests and offers a significant reduction in fungal diseases.
Yard Stick PBC (Chris Tolles) measures soil carbon, making it possible to quantify carbon stocks on more land and allow more growers to increase their knowledge of their land. The technology is designed for field evaluation of soil carbon stocks and changes.
SMAPPLAB (Donat Posta) provides insect infestation monitoring and forecasting, using AI image recognition to provide actionable insights to growers. The platform offers a simple hectare-based subscription model to increase sustainability and profitability.
Protiomix Ltd (Stephan Jaffe) utilises waste streams generated by food and beverage sectors, converting this into an environmentally sustainable quality, carbon-negative feed and pet food production process.
Sunamp (Ana Amaral) offers a low-carbon solution that can reduce operational costs by running chillers during off-peak time to store energy to be used during peak time. This increases resilience for suppliers by not fully depending on the grid operation.
